59th (Staffordshire) Division in WWII

Greetings! This website pays homage to the 59th Division of the British Army which took part in the Normandy Campaign June-August 1944.

Background

In both World Wars the rapid expansion of the Territorial Army was achieved by creating duplicate units which were formed from a cadre of staff detached from the existing unit to recruit, train and administer the duplicate. In the Summer of 1939, during the political crisis leading up to the outbreak of WWII, every division of the Territorial Army was ordered to duplicate itself.

Thus 59 Division, which had been disbanded after WWI, was reborn as the duplicate of 55 (West Lancashire) Division. After some shuffling of battalions in order to maintain a semblance of regional integrity the 59th was officially labeled Staffordshire, even though it contained battalions from Lancashire and Norfolk.

59 Division spent the next five years training, including an extended period of field exercises in Northern Ireland, followed by a redeployment to Kent and a year of preparation for the second front.

In 1944 they were honored as the last division selected for the Normandy operation — part of the invasion follow-up corps. They arrived in Normandy in early July, and from the initial challenge of the assault on Caen, to the successful bridging of the Orne five weeks later near Thury-Harcourt, the division demonstrated its mettle. But casualties in the British 2nd Army created a severe shortage of replacements that recruiting alone could not fill, so the 59th (as the junior division) was disbanded to fill this need.

59th Division veterans have always prided themselves in the fact that they were the only WWII duplicate division to fight overseas.

Contact Information

I enjoy hearing from anyone who was in the 59th Division, had an ancestor in the 59th, or just has an interest in the history of the 59th during WWII. I would welcome your suggestions and would especially welcome contributions of additional material (photos, records, etc).

Robert Morss
Sanford Maine USA

Service Records

Please note that I do not have access to individual soldier's service records. British WWII service records are available from:

Army Personnel Centre
Historical Disclosures, Mailpoint 400
Kentigern House
65 Brown Street
Glasgow G2 8EX

Telephone: 0141 224 3515 or 0845 600 9663
Fax: 0141 224 2144

The Ministry of Defence does not normally release information from a service record to persons other than the individual concerned or their next of kin. There is a search fee for genealogical enquiries which currently stands at £25.00.

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